Hotham Park recently saw the much-anticipated Finals of a popular Boules Tournament, organised by the Bognor Regis Town Twinning Association. The deserving champions were presented with the coveted cut-glass trophy by Chairman Mr Ray Hagger.  The winners were Maralyn Green, Stephanie Mezulis and Joelle Marsh, of the ‘Incrediboules’ team.

The boules tournament had brought together teams to compete over several months, thereby accruing points towards a final score.  The four top teams played in the semi-finals on a surprisingly sunny day, with friends and supporters taking advantage of the shade.  The two teams left standing then faced each other in the long-awaited final.  The ‘Off Piste’ team got off to a flying start but the ‘Incrediboules’ team slowly caught up and went on to win the match.  Throughout the semi-finals and finals there were some close games and skillful boules throwing, which drew appreciation from the audience as well as having them on the edge of their seats. 

Boules is an ancient game, played widely across France in town squares.  It is a simple and easy game to learn but, like all games, takes a while to get really skillful, unless you are a natural!

The purpose of the game is to win by throwing your boule along the playing area or ‘piste’, so that it lands closer to the small ball (called the jack or cochonnet) than those of your opponent.

The game of boules was originally played by taking a long run up to the piste and then hurling the boule.  Then later, due to one of the top players in France being badly afflicted with rheumatism, new rules were formulated which allowed him to continue playing.  The new rules had players standing still with both feet firmly placed on the ground while throwing the boule.  This was the game of pétanque, which came from the words pieds tanqués, meaning feet firmly planted on the ground (from old Provencal French).

Bognor Regis is fortunate to have its own boules piste in Hotham Park, located near the Adventure Golf.  Many groups play regularly, including those from the U3A and from Twinning groups.  The piste is open to the public with boules available at the nearby kiosk.